Tuesday, May 25, 2010

This past weekend, my husband and I (plus Teddy our dog) took a short break and drove to a favourite spot - the French shore of Nova Scotia. The weather was cool and foggy, as is often the case on the French shore. In fact, Nick wondered if this was why that location was given to the dispersed Acadians who had been expelled from their homes beginning in 1755, due to an oscillating rule between Britain and France. The Acadians fled and settled in many spots, including Louisiana but many found new life in parts of Nova Scotia where they had to change their farming ways for whatever they could do to make a living. Here, on the south-western tip of Nova Scotia, they became fishermen. The landscape is dotted with Comeaus, Robichauds, Doucets - a brief history of the expulsion can be read here

The Acadians were pious people for whom the church was a central part of their life. And the church in the photo above was built in 1903, based upon a plan by a French architect and the construction was directed by master carpenter Leo Melanson, assisted by 1500 parishioners.

It is the largest and tallest wooden building in North America. Built in the form of a cross, the church nave measures 58 metres (190 feet) in length, with transepts that are 41 metres (135 feet) across. The church spire rises 56 metres (185 feet) from floor to steeple, with its cross adding another 1.67 meters (5.6 feet). Originally 30 feet taller, the church steeple was struck by lightning in 1914, requiring part of the spire to be rebuilt. - Wikipedia

The church is massive for its surroundings and one can't help but be impressed with its size. Especially when you drive through the area and see the modest homes, and consider the simple lifestyle that must have existed at the time of the church's construction, you have to think of just how important that church was to the people.

The interior is beautiful and is open daily for tourists, as the church also serves as a museum as well as being still a functioning Catholic church for the area. Side rooms are filled with display cases of ornate vestments, altar linens, chalices, ciboriums and patens; I was particularly struck by a rug that had been handmade, embroidered, dyed all by the local women in 2005. It was used in front of the altar for weddings, the bride and groom would stand on this beautiful red carpet while making their wedding vows.

Outside the church, in the parking lot, is a statue of Our Lady with a crown made of electric lights, a common feature in French Canadian churches.

As the traffic passes by on the road directly in front of the church, every car has to pass the cemetery which is on the side opposite the church. And in the middle of the cemetery is a simple large crucifix and, at the foot of the cross, is Mary and the disciple John. I couldn't help but think that, for so many, this Jesus is no longer central to their life. As we left County Clare, I was overcome by bittersweet emotions, the sadness of seeing this part of the world struggling to survive. There is only lobster fishing left now, the seas having been stripped of herring and cod by the large dragger boats. Sons no longer stay to learn the trade from their fathers, but move away to get educated or to seek work in other parts of the country. The population is aging more rapidly than elsewhere; gone are the little houses at the end of every driveway where children would await the school bus in inclement weather.

It is a beautiful part of the world. Magnificent views can be had all along that road, where you look out at the Atlantic Ocean. The only thing between you and Europe at that point is an immense body of water. It is a place that makes you realise your insignificance in the world and, at the same time, your importance.

What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you should care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. - Psalm 8:4-5

As we drove back towards Halifax, it was my hope that in the days to come, life would return in abundance to this shoreline, that once saw such life and hope and faith against all odds. The kind of hope and faith that led people to build such a church, a testament to their belief in God.

Monday, May 17, 2010

The fact that Pope Benedict is under severe criticism is not news. Everywhere he goes, he gets slammed by the media; he opens his mouth and his words are reprinted in lots of publications with the expected critical remarks. Plus the threat to arrest him when he visits England in the fall!

But there are more prelates undergoing criticism; actually persecution is what it should be called.

In Chicago, Cardinal George who is the Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is being targeted by a group called the Rainbow Sash Movement. They are calling for concerted action by GBLT (gay, bi-sexual, lesbian, transgender) Catholics this coming Sunday which is Pentecost Sunday. These are a group of Catholics who feel that they are being marginalized by the Roman Catholic Church's stand on homosexuality: namely love the sinner, hate the sin, i.e. all sexual acts outside of marriage between one man and one woman are sinful. They are comparing their position to that of the early Christians who were treated differently because they were not circumcised like the Jews who had become Christians.

A bit of a stretch if you ask me, but then both issues were/are focused on the genitals, so perhaps there is some correlation.

Seriously, though, Cardinal George is an outspoken advocate for the family and he repudiates the claim that homosexual behaviour is acceptable within the Christian life. This reminds me of the gays who targeted Cardinal O'Connor of New York and invaded the cathedral there, throwing condoms at the cardinal and desecrating the Eucharist. This group is not threatening to be that violent, they are planning on simply attending Mass, putting on their rainbow sashes, presenting themselves for Communion, and if refused, they will remain standing throughout the rest of the Mass to call attention to themselves. You can read more here:

As well, in Canada, Cardinal Marc Ouellet is being attacked for his pro-life statements made in Ottawa at the National March for Life and again for statements on the sanctity of life and traditional marriage at the pro-life conference held in Quebec City last Saturday.

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they perscuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. - John 15: 18-21

and

... they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry before hand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. - Luke 21: 11-19

It is not without reason that, during his recent visit to Portugal, "Pope Benedict identified abortion and the pressure for gay “marriage” as among the most “insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good,” and expressed his “deep appreciation” for those who fight for the rights of the unborn." - LifeSiteNews, May 14, 2010

A propos the topic of homosexuality, there is an excellent article on being healed of homosexuality, written by a former homosexual activist and editor of Young Gay America magazine, who came out from the homosexual lifestyle in 2007 -

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The March for Life in Ottawa on Thursday made the mainstream media. This is a story in itself, as last year there was only one piddly little article about the March, even though 12,000 people were in attendance.

MSM (mainstream media) cover events with only about 100 people when they are events that appeal to the liberal left agenda, such as Gay Pride, feminists agitating for reproductive rights. So to have at least two major newspapers give coverage to the March for Life is a first and a welcome change.

Both articles' titles seem to indicate that the anti-abortion rally was in response to Stephen Harper's recent refusal to include abortion in reproductive health aid to the third world. While it is true that most pro-life people are supportive of Harper's recent stand against exporting abortion to the poor of the world, the March for Life is much more than that.

As the Star article states:

The debate that Harper says he doesn’t want to reopen in Canada arrived literally on his doorstep on Thursday, with high spirits and demands for the Conservative government to do much more to discourage abortion in this country.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, put it so well:

We support this stance of the government not to finance abortion in countries of the Third World, but we would like some more courage, some more courage to do something more in Canada.

Things really are moving on an issue that was pronounced decided by Jean Chretien when he was Prime Minister. Even though some politicians don't want to engage in this debate, I don't think they are going to have that choice much longer. The people of Canada are speaking up and the pro-life voice is getting heard, as shown by mainstream media coverage. This issue will not simply go away, because it was never really handled correctly in the first place. And because the consciences of so many people are bothered by the injustice done to the unborn.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Last night's candlelight vigil was held on South Park Street outside the Victoria General Hospital. We had wonderful weather, for which we are so grateful, and approximately 80 people came out to pray silently for the victims of abortion. The opposition came in the form of FLAP, Feminist League for Agitation Propaganda. The title sounds as if they will agitate for any cause, not a title I would pick to describe an action I was espousing. One young man in the vigil remarked that these women were not serious, they were laughing and playing loud music (some great Gloria Estefan who by the way is a pro-life Catholic Cuban emigrant); he described their appearance as "street theatre". I think that is a good description; theatrical is certainly their demeanour in dress and in posture; but whether they are seriously concerned with women's health issues, I cannot say. That didn't come across from the two times I have seen them in public. We shall see more today, I am sure, at the Rally at Province House at noon. Too bad, the Legislature closed yesterday - unfortunate timing for the March for Life. I wonder if they closed knowing that we were coming today. I doubt it, but you never know.

Note, in the first photo, their banner held by two oddly posed young women, directly underneath the sign that reads Holy Cross Cemetery - Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows. The irony was lost on them, I am sure.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

There is plenty of evidence around that confirms that induced abortion increases a woman's risk for breast cancer.

For an easy-to-read commentary on this link with some links of its own, click hereGerard Nadal, M.D.

I have known about this link for several years now, and whenever I see the Run for the Cure, I am torn inside. Knowing that the women, men, and children running are all running for someone whom they know who has or is suffering from breast cancer and wondering how many of these women have had abortions and remain in ignorance of the connection.

The last time I had a mammogram at the Breast Screening Clinic, the nurse asked me a series of questions. Things like history of breast cancer in my family, how many pregnancies I have had, my age when I had my first pregnancy, all things that are supposed to be indicative of a woman's risk for breast cancer. When she finished the questions, I so wanted to ask "why don't you ask if I have had an induced abortion?" but I was afraid to raise the question.

However, when I have my next mammogram, I will ask. And, if I am met with surprise, I will let the nurse know why I asked. And I will be sure to bring her some literature so that she knows I am not just spitting in the wind. Perhaps woman-to-woman is the way to get this information out; she may just pooh-pooh it, but she will probably read the literature out of curiosity. And then she may just begin to wonder.

Certainly having a question about history of abortion on a breast cancer questionnaire seems a rather obvious thing to do. I wonder why no one has thought of it yet. It would be such a good way to gather the stats reliably.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Little is widely known about the business aspects of the abortion industry that relate to its function of supplying electively aborted fetuses to industries that exploit them for economic gain. An unintended consequence of the essentially unencumbered right to abortion has been the creation of a vast and lucrative market in fetal tissue, fetal organs and fetal parts.

The above quote is from a thesis written by Vicki Evans, called Commercial Markets Created by Abortion: Profiting from the Fetal Distribution Chain. Vicki is the Respect Life Coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco; Vicki authored this study which served as her thesis for a licentiate in bioethics from Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, where she recently graduated summa cum laude. In her study, Evans reveals, “Legal and widespread abortion has made possible a host of clandestine business practices that thrive under the radar of the American populace."

This is a long (73 pages) paper, and I was tempted to put numerous quotes here for you to glean a little of the paper's import. However, the list of quotes just became far too long, so I will simply provide a link to Evan's thesis, and highlight a few parts that struck me in particular.

The paper is a real eye-opener; if you have ever wondered if Planned Parenthood really is as bad as some people say it is, this paper will resolve your confusion. There is no doubt left once you see the amount of money spent on political lobbying, all of it given to pro-abortion Democratic candidates.

The section on the buying and selling of fetal organs is insightful; even though trading in body parts is outlawed by legislation, those who wish to do this have found ways to get around the law. Trading services with abortion clinics, bartering services for body parts, and some inventive accounting keeps this lucrative offshoot of abortion alive and kicking. And both political parties are involved here: the Democrats are in bed with the sellers of body parts (the abortion clinics) while the Republicans are in bed with the buyers (pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries).

As chemical abortions are becoming more popular, the worry is that there will not be enough surgical abortions to provide the needs of researchers. Enter the frightening world of fetal farming.

The prospect of fetal farming looms large… We have arrived at the point of creating human life merely to destroy it, harvesting it as little more than raw material, a commodity, for exploitation.” Whole organs are exceeding complex structures. It is more practical for researchers to secure them from a fetus of eight months gestation, a stage appropriate for organ transplant, than a five-day old cloned embryo. - Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk of the National Catholic Bioethics Center

Professor Robert George predicted that if a legislative ban on fetus farming was not put into place, public opposition to the practice could erode. “People now find it revolting, but what will happen to public sentiment if the research is permitted to go forward and in fact generates treatments for some dreadful diseases or afflictions?” His fear was that moral opposition would collapse “when the realistic prospect of cures was placed before the public”.

Fortunately, the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006 was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. However, given the direction of the current administration of the US government, this prohibition too could be threatened.

And then there is the lucrative world of pharmaceuticals.

The extraordinary thing about pharmaceutical companies is not only the amount of gross revenue they generate, but also the percentage of profit earned on that revenue (net profit divided by gross revenue equals profit percentage). The industry‟s largest companies averaged a 16% profit rate on sales revenues in 2008, compared with a median profit rate of 3% for the other Fortune 500 companies.

Most of us have heard something about the use of aborted tissue in vaccines and some studies even link this to the increase in autism in children.

Whether fetal tissue research offered anything to learn that could not also be learned by using adult tissue is arguable. Its overriding advantage was its ability to grow and develop more rapidly. For a company attempting to win the race to market, time was of the essence. The demand for fetal tissue created by the life science industry was growing at a rapid pace, particularly for the purpose of replacing and improving on existing fetal cell lines for research and for use in the pharmaceutical industry.

In case, you think that you have been immune from the use of aborted tissue in vaccines, it is illuminating to read that the first use of aborted tissue was in the development of vaccine for the rubella outbreak of 1964. Tissue from Sweden (where abortion was legal) was brought to Pennsylvania for research and then marketed by Merck. As well, innoculations against chicken pox, hepatitis A and B, measles/mumps/rubella, shingles, small pox, HIV, rheumatoid arthritis have all been developed from the cell lines of aborted fetuses. There are alternatives to using aborted tissue, however the research lines have been in place for a while, and companies that are seeking profit first and foremost are not likely to change direction when they can maximize their profits so easily as they are doing now with the use of fetal tissue.

Then there is the chapter on cosmetics and the use of fetal tissue in that industry. We have heard of creams and lotions that are supposed to rejuvenate the skin and reduce wrinkles, many of these are based on fetal tissue. Falling below the radar are clinics and spas in places like the Barbados where wealthy women can go for treatments, costing $25,000 and upwards, where they will receive fetal injections that eliminate cellulite. In the Ukraine, women are paid three months salary to carry a pregnancy to a late stage, at which point they are induced and the baby's organs are harvested for eventual use by beauty clinics.

Hard to believe? It seems all too horrible to be believable, but Evans has an extensive bibliography and she corroborates all her statements with sources.

If the transcendence of man is not recognized and respected, if he is not accepted as a creature endowed with absolute value, he is easily reduced to a commodity... The human body is a mass of chemicals. As such, it is viewed through the lens of profit. If human beings are not exceptional in the material creation, the vision of man as a profit center may well be acceptable. In some stages of life, he is the supplier; in some stages, the consumer. But always, profit is the motive.

Just as Britain was loathe to eliminate the slave trade because she was dependent upon it for the economy, it may be that we are dependent upon the abortion industry for much of our economy.

There are practices that go on in the silence of the scientific or industrial laboratory that the average citizen does not know about, the true significance of which he would not even be able to comprehend, given that they are very complex and highly specialized. The only ones who know about them and understand them are the other researchers, who therefore have the ethical duty to inform the public about them and oppose them in whatever way possible.” - A. R. LUNO, “Ethical Reflections on Vaccines"

It is important to shine a light on these practices that take place behind closed doors. There are powerful forces conspiring to keep this information from the public and the media with the ostensible conviction that they are protecting a woman‟s right to choose. However, it is becoming obvious that many ideological groups are being used as pawns by powerful financial interests.

There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the house tops. - Luke 12: 2-3

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Yesterday, I attended a wonderful one-day conference sponsored by Nova Scotians United for Life. I want to tell you about two of the speakers who addressed the group at this event.

First, Dr. Elizabeth Tham, a family physician in Toronto and a consultant at the Marguerite Bourgeoys Family Center. Elizabeth is trained in the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, which is a very accurate method of charting a woman's menstrual cycle, similar to the Billings Ovulation method. Dr. Tham explained to us how, over the past 15 years, she has become more and more involved with helping women to understand their cycles, determine their peak fertility with the goal of either getting pregnant or avoiding pregnancy. But her study has led her to other conclusions: in coming to understand the hormones that control women's cycles, Elizabeth has become quite proficient in helping women with other problems. She recounted the case of one woman who came to her, suffering from endometriosis with accompanying pain and infertility. While treating this woman, Elizabeth was led to discover that she suffered from several other medical problems, which had been undiagnosed to that point. While studying the woman's hormone levels, Elizabeth diagnosed her insulin problem amongst other medical conditions. Treating the woman with hormones to bring her levels back to normal, sending the woman for laser treatment of the endometriosis, and treating the insulin problem, Elizabeth brought this woman to better health and one of the benefits was that the woman managed to get pregnant. She and her husband had been trying unsuccessfully to achieve pregnancy for eight years!

And that was just one story. Elizabeth explained how, through studying the charts of menstruating women, she could predict those at risk of miscarriage (I came to understand why I probably miscarried three times), she could correct the hormonal levels of estrogen and progesterone, and she could help women to know themselves better. Some women, simply by charting and understanding their own fertility, became pregnant without any further treatment.

This is simply not taught by the majority of doctors. When asked why doctors don't tell women about this, Elizabeth responded that most doctors don't take this seriously because it is not taught in medical school. Unless theories and practices are taught while someone is studying to become a doctor, the graduating student is unlikely to entertain their viability. And who suffers? Women, who often needlessly undergo certain surgeries and treatments when they could be treated non-invasively with hormones.

So, in the hope that women who wish to know their own bodies better will gain access to this information, here is the link for Elizabeth's knowledge. It is no secret, pass it along to anyone who wishes to know and especially to anyone who thinks that she might be infertile and doesn't know why.

Elizabeth said there are only two doctors at present in Canada making use of this body of knowledge and a third is in training and will begin practice in Vancouver shortly. There are many in the United States. Elizabeth herself will consult by telephone so google her and get in touch if you want to avail yourself of this information.

A second speaker at the conference was Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, who is a breast surgeon in New Jersey and co-founder and president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. As a breast cancer surgeon, Angela has seen the incidence of breast cancer increasing especially in young women, some as young as thirty. She could no longer remain silent when she noted the correlation between induced abortion and breast cancer as well as the birth control pill and breast cancer. She told me that guilt got the better of her and now she just wants women to know what their doctors and the Cancer Society won't tell them. This knowledge is being suppressed, in part because they fear the backlash that will happen. However, in 1928 there were almost no reported cases of lung cancer; come the Second World War, every soldier was given free cigarettes in his kit bag, and by 1964, the surgeon general Everett Koop succeeded in having warnings put on every cigarette package sold.

Dr. Lanfranchi said that we will see exactly the same thing with breast cancer. The biology doesn't lie. She has faced much opposition over the past ten years; however, she said not once has anyone ever refuted any of the medical facts and results from surveys that she has written about. Attacks have been ad hominem in an attempt to discredit her; but the biological facts remain; an interrupted pregnancy results in the development of lobules in the breast that are highly susceptible to cancer. These lobules, if a pregnancy proceeds to a natural conclusion, will change into Type 3 lobules that are extremely cancer-resistant. This is why pregnancy and breast feeding are the best protection any woman can have against breast cancer.

Someone asked Dr. Lanfranchi if she would prescribe birth control pills for women or if she would refer for abortion, and she replied: "When I know that both the pill and abortion do harm to women, how can I, in conscience, advise either of those?" And if anyone should decide to take her to court for her non-compliance with either of these requests, that would be Dr. Lanfranchi's defense. Telling women the truth and refusing to treat them in a way that will cause them harm is something she is simply not willing to do. She concluded that, one day, she will face a much greater judge.

Kudos to both these women who are putting the welfare of fellow women before their own careers, before their own position in the medical community, and who have dedicated themselves to the long-term good of their patients.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Breaking news! Free to all comers! the first pro-life conference in the province of Quebec since 2004. And on the list of speakers - Cardinal Marc Ouellet as well as Father Raymond de Souza. If you live anywhere near the vicinity of Quebec City or might consider a weekend away in this gorgeous city, then email Georges right away and sign up for this amazing pro-life event.

This from an email this morning:

I didn't want to prevent anyone from attending the first pro-life conference in Quebec since 2004, and the first Quebec Life Coalition conference in Quebec City. That's why we've changed the conference format, and we've changed the price to ... ZERO dollars. That's right, if you've already paid, we'll refund your ticket. We believe it's so important for the most people possible to attend, that we want you, and your friends, and your acquaintances --anyone you think is pro-life-- to come and backup one of the only prominent Quebec public figures to stand up for the unborn: Cardinal Marc Ouellet.

All you need to do is to reply to this email and write "I'll be there" in the subject line. That'll give us an idea of the number of people who will be attending.

According to the author of "Voix de faits", a Quebec anarchist blog, the 2010 QLC conference in Quebec city is the first time for a long, long time (if ever) that "the catholic hierarchy has openly associated itself with the reactionary and activist wing of the Quebec anti-choice movement." Translated in plain English, that means that for the first time in recent memory, one of the biggest pro-life players in the province has decided once again to take up the fight for the unborn with us in the trenches, in the public square. And it's at the QLC 2010 May 15 Quebec-city conference that this is happening! This is an amazing story, an answer to our prayers!

That's why you absolutely have to be there, Julie, rain or shine!

We noticed that the previous format for this conference wasn't good for people coming from out of town. That's why we've modified the schedule, and here it is (the conference will be held on Saturday, May 15 in the "Des Plaines" hall of the "hôtel Château Laurier" in Québec (1220 Place George-V Ouest, Québec, QC G1R 5B8‎ - (418) 522-8108):

So now there's nothing keeping anyone from participating. The cost of the conference depends on your donation, if you want, or if you can't, it doesn't matter: what's important is that you show up!

For those of you who prayed with us during the 40 Days for Life, what were we praying for, exactly? I know that one of my main prayer intentions was for the Christian community in Quebec to take a stand and take the lead in the pro-life battle. And now we're seeing that the top-ranking member of the catholic church in Canada is joining us in our battle, and taking all sorts of media abuse in defence of the unborn. This is a new page in Quebec's history. We can't take this for granted; we have to seize this moment.

That's why I'm urgently inviting you and your friends and pro-life acquaintances to this conference, Julie. You don't want to "all alike begin to make excuses" like the invited guests to the Lord's "supper" in Luke 14:16-24. We were waiting for a change in Quebec, some kind of sign that a thaw was coming, that spring was near. And now we have it. It's time to come to the "supper" this May 15!

To help us estimate the number of attendees, just reply to this email with "I'll be there" in the subject line. If you're bringing along friends, let us know.

Julie, if you look at all the elements converging on this conference, you really get a sense that something is brewing: bill C-510 introduced by Rod Bruinooge, the Conservative Party of Canada's G8 maternal health plan that doesn't include abortion, the controversial withdrawal of funding from feminist groups in Quebec and elsewhere, Cardinal Ouellet's foray into the euthanasia and abortion debates last Saturday, gay lobbyists demonstating on May 15 in Quebec City against "homophobia"... and then there's us, on May 15 in Quebec City standing up for the unborn with Cardinal Ouellet. You can't afford to miss this!

Also, don't forget to forward this email to your contact--let's get the word out!

I'm just an ordinary law-abiding Christian who wants to share my faith with the public. I didn't even mention homosexual conduct while I was preaching, but the police seemed determined to raise this subject with me. They later arrested me and charged me for expressing my beliefs. I just can't believe it.- Dale McAlpine of Cumbria, England

He is being defended by the Christian Institute, a leading defender of religious liberty. Spokesman Mike Judge says: "It is not a crime for someone to say that homosexual conduct is sinful. We've got to have freedom of speech in this country and that includes the freedom to say some things that other people may take a different view on. That's okay. We live in a free society. Let's not criminalize one side of the argument."

I was going to blog about this, but when someone says it better than you could ever say it yourself, it makes sense to simply provide the link:

By the way, when Michael Coren was here two weeks ago, my husband and I asked him which blogs he read and we asked him specifically about Melanie Phillips. To which, Michael replied that she is brilliant, but in England they think she is mad. The reason? she is defending Israel, when all the liberal thinkers are now anti-Semitic. How ironic that one of the leading defenders of Christians is herself a Jew. What are we doing to defend her heritage?

For a longer article on Dale McAlpine, visit the blog of Albert Mohler who concludes:

We will soon learn which nations truly believe in religious liberty and freedom of speech. Cases like this are inevitable when the logic of hate speech and special rights for “sexual minorities” prevails.Do not think for a moment that this troubling development is of consequence only for street preachers in Britain. The signal sent by this kind of arrest reaches right into every church in every nation where a similar logic takes hold.Yes, we will soon learn which nations honor religious liberty — but we will also soon learn which preachers are determined to honor God’s truth, whatever the cost. Paul’s command to preachers to preach the Word, “in season and out of season” is about more than when preaching is more and less popular. It may well mean preaching the Word, in jail or out of jail.Just ask Dale McAlpine.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Yesterday, I got the latest newsletter from Spirit and Life, written by Father Euteneuer for whom I have the deepest regard. So it was with dismay that I read his address to a group of the Romanian Parliament on their need to increase child fertility and to encourage the Romanian people to have more children.

Why the disappointment? Because I felt that this was an oversimplification caused by lack of knowledge. Not that I know that much about Romania, but I have learned a little in the past few years through my husband's trips to that country.

This is a country that is below the radar economically. In the countryside, people who own their own land and have their own houses live very frugally. The roads are in terrible shape, and it is as if you had been transported back one hundred years in time, as you see gypsies travelling along the roads in carts pulled by donkeys. It would be possible to have a largish family if you live in the countryside.

But if you live in a city, chances are that you will be housed in an apartment like the ones in the photo above. These are not rental apartments, these are purchased for life. One professor that my husband was working with, lived with her husband and only child, in a small 2-bedroom apartment. Their combined salaries could not keep a car on the road, and they lived very simply. Both incomes were required just to buy the necessities of life such as food and clothing. How could such a couple have more children? They are not given the living space to have even a medium-sized family with two or three children. Since both parents are required to work, and their salaries are not sufficient now, how could they afford more children with the attendant costs of feeding and providing care for those children?

Countries such as Romania can't be expected to respond to the cry to have more children when their living conditions are crying out to be improved. From what I have read about living in Russia, conditions there are similar. The spread of Communism in eastern Europe has decimated family life and ruined the economies of these countries to the point that something much more transformative has to happen before they can be expected to follow the teachings of Humanae Vitae.

The incidence of abortion in Romania is one of the highest in eastern Europe. I have heard that many women have multiple abortions, even as many as nine from one estimate. This is something that we, in the west, cannot even begin to comprehend.

There is a huge need for healing in these countries on many levels before they can be expected to respond to a call from the western Church to be more pro-life.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

When asked recently by a major publication to name her greatest regret, Martha Stewart replied, "Not having a dozen offspring."

This from the guru of home perfection. Actually, I have had a secret liking for Martha Stewart for years, but it is not the kind of thing you like to admit. She is just too "over the top" when it comes to domesticity. I mean, not just baking and making gorgeous home decor, but even raising the chickens that lay the eggs! There seems as if there is nothing Martha cannot do when it comes to domestic skills.

She has been the butt of many jokes and sarcastic remarks, and it is easy to make fun of someone who seems to be so one-dimensional. However, I remember listening to Barbara Walters recounting a visit to see Martha when she was in jail. Martha was found guilty of insider trading on the stock market, and she had to serve nine months, I think, in jail. Walters said that Martha was very upset by the fact that the jail was situated off the beaten track and that most of the women incarcerated there did not get many visits as it was too costly and time-consuming for family members to make the trip. She felt their imposed isolation was extremely difficult and unnecessarily cruel. While in jail, she organized yoga classes for the women and also managed to get healthy snacks placed in the vending machines rather than just pop and chips. So the prisoners could get yogurt and granola bars if they chose.

What struck me was that Martha showed, not pity, but real empathy, for her fellow prisoners. She could have remained aloof from the other inmates, but she didn't. And that impressed me.

So when I read this statement that her only regret in life was not having a dozen offspring, I was impressed yet again with this domestic guru who seems to have most things pretty together. She doesn't, and she admits it, and she admits to a great longing that most women feel too afraid to acknowledge. The desire to be mother, not once, but again and again to more people. You gotta like someone who says that, well I do.

Monday, May 3, 2010

While waiting for our flight this morning from Ottawa back to Halifax, I stumbled upon this article in the Ottawa Citizen.

Mark Mercer is a philosophy professor at St. Mary's University. It is well known that he is an atheist; he is also a decent sort of chap who defended the pro-life club last year in the event they sponsored: Echoes of the Holocaust, a talk by Jose Ruba of the Canadian Centre for BioEthical Reform, in which Ruba compares abortion to the holocaust of the Jews in Nazi Germany. The event was shut down by protestors organized by the Women's Centre of SMU, and security did nothing to curtail the protestors' loud chants, until it was decided by university personnel that the talk should be moved off campus. Mercer wrote several times that this was an infringement of the students' right to free speech and he criticized the university's action in moving the talk off campus. Score a point for Mercer.

However, his article does not measure up in any way to his good actions last year. In fact, it is a very poor rendering of logic, in that he announces, without any proof, that a fetus can only be deemed a human person by virtue of being conscious and showing a desire to live. He states this arbitrarily without any reasons given; how does he expect his statement to stand unless he gives some reasons for it?

And the statement is full of holes, through which any budding pro-lifer could drive a truck. Jill Stanek lists those flaws in her blog today.

He goes on to list his arbitrary criteria for personhood ("richly aware of its environment and full of beliefs and desires," "self-conscious," "self-aware locus of experience" and has an interest in living) which would eliminate numerous born human beings and provides no reason for why anyone should accept his arbitrary criteria for personhood over anyone else's arbitrary criteria.- www.jillstanek.com

A commenter on www.prowomanprolife.orgargues the case on the grounds of logic and those with very logical minds will find that one interesting.

But really, I would expect more of a philosophy prof than this paltry defense of abortion. Stating that the fetus is a potential human being was debunked ages ago, with the conclusion that a fetus is not a potential human being, but rather a human being with potential. Arguing in terms of whether the fetus is a "person" or not is semantics, not logic.

We must not reduce issues of life and death and basic human rights to a semantic game in which we are free to redefine our terms. Changing the meaning of words doesn't change reality. The concept of personhood is now virtually worthless as an ethical guide in the matter of abortion. The only objective questions we can ask are:1. "Is it human; that is, did it come from human beings?"2. "Is it a genetically unique individual?"3. "Is it alive and growing?"If the answers are yes, then "it" is a "he" or "she,", a living person, possessing rights and deserving or protection. - ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments, by Randy Alcorn

Does Professor Mercer really need to be reminded that Jews, blacks, native persons, and women were once not considered "persons" also? As doctors perform in-utero surgery on these "non-persons", shouldn't Mercer be concerned that we are wasting medical resources on beings who aren't people in the first place?

Not to mention the fact that the cognitively-impaired, the comatose, the anaesthetized patient, heck even the sleeping human person is deemed a non-person by Mercer's definition. He is playing word games, trying to defend the crumbling pro-abortion argument; but history will show that he was simply concerned with words, rather than the truth. It makes for a poor epitaph for someone who claims to be interested in the pursuit of truth; and isn't that what a philosophy professor is supposed to be?